EP REVIEW: Down, Wicked & No Good – In Flames
Reimagined, rejuvenated and reinvigorated. Swedish melodic death band IN FLAMES are back with a four track EP giving a powerful insight into their inspiration and what shaped the growth of their incredibly popular sound.
Down, Wicked & No Good receives its name as an EP from three out of the four songs featured within it,
It’s no good by DEPECHE MODE, Wicked Game the forever popular song to be covered by countless artists, originally by CHRIS ISAAK and Down in a hole by the immortal ALICE IN CHAINS.
IN FLAMES have delivered a fan service with this release giving long term fans an idea into what sort of sounds make this band tick. The songs featured within it are timeless classics that are worldwide hits with that signature Swedish twist that IN FLAMES always seem to incorporate into their music. Although, the sounds they are using are mostly similar to the kind they have grown into in their later albums; such as Battles which unfortunately was not universally accepted by IN FLAMES fans. The evolution of IN FLAMES is slightly confusing as they seem to have completely abandoned the power packing style which initially put them on the map way back in 1994. However, the music is still stylistically recognisable as the trademark sound that Anders Fridén delivers with his powerful vocal style.
Down, Wicked & No Good is an absolute pleasure to listen to, but four songs is probably the perfect length for something like this as nothing quite compares to the excitement of when the fourth track ends and the heart pounding sounds of Cloud Connected come blaring through the speakers because somebody set the entire discography set to shuffle.
Long term IN FLAMES fans can agree that we all await a day when a new release will come along that catches our minds and ears the way that Clayman did in the year 2000. The closest to this on the new EP that we get is the incredible live rendition of Hurt by NINE INCH NAILS; definitely the standout cover within this EP. It almost sounds like it belongs on Come Clarity. This is such a treat for the fans as it proves that Anders‘ voice is still as versatile as it ever was.
While IN FLAMES may have changed substantially over the years, this EP was still an incredible surprise and a pleasure to listen to. They’ve really done a fantastic job at showing what influences them while holding a candle to the original songs and breathing new life into them.
Rating: 7/10
Down, Wicked & No Good is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.
Like IN FLAMES on Facebook.